Bundesliga: Exciting duel between Stuttgart and Hoffenheim ends in a draw

In the duel between VfB Stuttgart and TSG Hoffenheim, which was exciting until the end, there were four goals and one strange dismissal.

TSG Hoffenheim striker Andrej Kramaric spoiled VfB Stuttgart’s hoped-for liberation at TSG Hoffenheim with his brace (11th/90+4th). Serhou Guirassy (45+5.) and Wataru Endo (77.) scored 2-2 (1-1) for the Swabians.

Hoffenheim scored the first goal with the first dangerous action: Angelino with a remarkable direct cross from the ankle, Kramaric finished elegantly with a volley with the outside of his right foot (11th). VfB Stuttgart tried again and again with interface passes to Guirassy. But Hoffenheim’s three-man chain (Pavel Kaderabek, Kevin Vogt and Stanley Nsoki) was able to disrupt the game again and again. The Hoffenheim counterattacks, however, came to nothing again and again.

VfB Stuttgart with the flattering compensation

Stuttgart only became really dangerous shortly before the break: Sila’s shot from close range could only be parried by TSG keeper Oliver Baumann. But the follow-up shot from Naouirou Ahamada rushed wide of the goal and Guirassy couldn’t get to the ball with his tackle (45+1.). A few minutes later, the Frenchman became dangerous again on a pass from Ahamada and scored his sixth goal of the season to make it 1-1 at half-time. Flattering.

The second half started again with a dangerous action by Hoffenheim. But Munas Dabbur and Ihlas Bebou’s shots were blocked and Kaderabek’s subsequent cross was about half a centimeter too high for Christoph Baumgartner (51′). On the Stuttgart side, Juan José Perea, who came on for Silas, caused a lot of excitement in the Hoffenheim penalty area. But his crosses often didn’t find the intended taker and then the Colombian came a bit too late to convert Chris Führich’s sharp cross pass (69′). Führich tried it himself two minutes later, but his shot was too central.

End shoots VfB Stuttgart in the lead

In the final phase, Stuttgart grew stronger and rewarded itself with the deserved lead. Once again it was Perea who penetrated the Hoffenheim penalty area with the ball. The ball came to Endo via Ahamada. The Japanese shot deliberately into the top right corner of the goal (77th). Then it got strange: Because Ahamada, who had already been warned, was celebrating after the goal in the Stuttgart fan corner, he saw the yellow-red card from referee Florian Badstübner.

Hoffenheim used the majority for furious attacks on the Stuttgart goal. But the Stuttgart back four withstood the pressure in conjunction with the good-humoured goalkeeper Florian Müller (made a spectacular save in the 83rd minute against the completely free-standing Dabbur) – until injury time. Then Kramaric skilfully flicked the ball from the edge of the penalty area into the Stuttgart goal for a happy equaliser.

Stuttgart plunges Hoffenheim into a crisis

After the 2:2, VfB Stuttgart jumped from the relegation place and is now in 14th place with 16 points. TSG Hoffenheim is only one place better with 16 points. For the Kraichgauer it was already the seventh winless game in a row.

VfB Stuttgart has to play at RB Leipzig on Friday evening (27.01.2023, 8:30 p.m.). Hoffenheim have to play Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday (January 28, 2023, 3:30 p.m.).